The present invention relates to a combined grate and hot water heater for use in a fireplace.
It is to be noted that although the invention will be described hereinafter for use in a fireplace, it may also be used in a wood burning stove or other similar structure and is therefore not intended to be limited to use solely with a fireplace. Accordingly, for simplicity, the term "fireplace" as used hereinafter is intended to include wood burning stoves and other similar structures.
In recent years a number of devices have been either proposed or actually constructed for the purpose of extracting useful heat generated in a fireplace. Some of these devices have been designed to utilize the heat present in a fireplace to heat air that is forced through the fire chamber in the fireplace, the resulting hot air being used for home heating purposes while other devices have been designed to heat water that is passed through the fire chamber, the resulting hot water being used for heating purposes or consumption.
Unfortunately, for the most part such devices have been very costly to manufacture, very difficult to install and/or not very efficient in their operation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,163 to H. G. Ballard there is disclosed a water heater for a fireplace having a fire chamber defined by a hearth, rear and side walls, and a top wall containing a flue comprising a lower U-shaped header consisting of heater pipes extending adjacent respective rear and side walls within said fire chamber defining an open area for building a fire so that the hearth is entirely open about a central portion thereof to accommodate a fire supported therein entirely apart from the heater, an upper heater extending adjacent a marginal portion of said top wall about the flue; a plurality of upright boiler pipes connecting said lower and upper headers spaced along said rear and side walls; a first number of said boiler pipes along said rear wall extending substantially vertically upwardly from said lower header connecting with a rear portion of said upper header and a second number of said boiler pipes alternating with said first number extending diagonally across said fire chamber connecting with a front portion of said upper head simultaneously communicating water flow from said lower header with said front and rear portions of said upper header enhancing efficient transfer of heat; and connections for supplying water to flow through said water heater.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,053 to H. Patel there is disclosed an apparatus for installation in a domestic fireplace to cover waste heat from a fire therein, comprising, a coil of tubing in the form of a spiral of several turns mounting structure for supporting the coil within said fire place above the floor thereof, with the axis of the coil oriented horizontally and directed toward the front of the fireplace, said coil presenting an opening at the front end thereof of such diameter that fuel can be introduced through the opening into the interior of the coil from the front of the fireplace, the lower portions of the turns of said coil consisting of support means to hold said fuel for burning in the interior of said coil, the upper portions of the turns of said coil passing above the lower portions thereof so that air heated by fuel disposed within said coil rises to said upper portions, means for circulating liquid through said coil, to be heated by the burning of said fuel, and a semi-cylindrical hood, being positioned closely above the upper portions turns to slow the movement of hot air from a fire interior of said coil, past the upper portions, said hood having a front end closure which extends downward across the upper part of said opening at the front of said coil, thereby to block forward escape of smoke within said hood, said hood being open at the back of said coil to permit the escape of smoke thereunder to the rear of said fireplace.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,519, to M. W. Towery there is disclosed a forced hot air wood burning fireplace attachment including a blower, a header communicating with the blower and a plurality of generally C-shaped tubes each having one end connected to the header. The other end of the tubes facing away from the fireplace and towards a room to be heated and a at least one of these ends having connected thereto a bypass conduit for delivering air directly to the fire.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,417 to D. A. Boyd there is disclosed a fireplace heater and grate comprising a series of vertically extending laterally spaced convection tubes having portions at their lower ends for passage therethrough of unheated air, and a rectangular grate of basket-like configuration for containing coal or like fuel for providing a fire for heating the air in said tube portions. The tube portions extend through the grate in heat-exchanging relationship with said fuel. Cast iron shields are provided which overlie and are in contact with said tube portions for protecting said tube portions from the corrosive and burning effects of said burning fuel. The shields are of semi-circular cross-section and have arcuate ends. The grate is supported by cast iron legs removably secured to the grate at the corners thereof.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,442 to R. O. Welty there is disclosed a fireplace heat system for extracting heat from a fire in a fireplace comprising a plurality of U-shaped structure means, each of said U-shaped structure means including two opposing substantially parallel horizontal legs of thick wall malleable black iron pipe and including threads on each end of each of said legs, plurality of substantially vertical connecting members of said black pipe and including threads on each end, and two pluralities of pipe elbows of said black pipe, each of said pipe elbows threaded onto each threaded end of said connecting member and one threaded end of each of said opposing legs, air input manifold means connecting bottom legs of each of said plurality of U-shaped structure means together, said air input manifold means including plurality of alternating tees and nipples of said black pipe screwed together, said plurality of tees being one greater than said plurality of nipples, a plug of said black pipe screwed into the furthest end of said last tee, and said bottom legs of each of said plurality of U-shaped structure means connected to the bottom leg of each of said tees, forced air input means connected to closet end of said first tee of said air input manifold means including a street elbow of said black pipe connected to the closest end of said first tee of said air input manifold means, one end of a hose connected to said street elbow with a hose clamp, and the other end of said hose connected to a blower with a hose clamp, said blower exhausting high velocity turbulent air into said pipes at a high velocity into said air input manifold means, said plurality of pipe caps of said black pipe including circular holes in said respective pipe caps and screwed onto said furthest threaded ends of top legs of said plurality of U-shaped structure means from said forced air means whereby said pipe caps restrict and balance the air flow over said U-shaped structure means, and turbulence is produced to maximize heat transfer from the fire in the fireplace to the environment adjacent the fireplace by the rough interior diameter as well as the exterior diameter of said thick wall malleable black iron pipe, by the boundary layers of air between said U-shaped structure means and said air input manifold means, by the air entering the bottom pipes of said plurality of U-shaped structure means, and by the forcing of the high velocity air around from said air input manifold means to said plurality of U-shaped structure means, and by the forcing of the high velocity air around the plurality of angles of said pipes at said tees and elbows from said air input manifold means to said plurality of U-shaped structure means to further create turbulence thereby resulting in maximized heat transfer from the fire in the fireplace to the environment adjacent the fireplace where each of said black pipe is replaceable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,784 to D. O. Malogouris there is disclosed a fireplace forced air heating apparatus, comprising an upstanding, vertically and laterally elongated heat exchanger contoured and dimensioned for placement adjacent the rear wall of a fireplace and enclosing a plenum, a pair of tubes connected to the heat exchanger adjacent to the bottom and lateral sides thereof and communicating at their inner ends with the plenum, the tubes extending horizontally forward from the heat exchanger toward the front of the fireplace, an elongated main duct disposed horizontally across and forwardly of the pair of tubes and extending laterally beyond said tubes, the ends of the main duct being open, a pair of duct segments secured at their forward ends to the rear side and intermediate the ends of the main duct for communication therewith and extending rearwardly for communication of their rearward ends with the forward ends of the pair of tubes, a pair of ports in the front side of the main duct substantially opposite the pair of duct segments, a baffle member comprising a hollow plug receivable interchangeably in either of the pair of ports for communicating the associated duct segment with the adjacent open end of the main duct, whereby to deliver cool air from said open end to the heat exchanger for heating, the baffle sleeve duct means located near the top and rear thereof whereof the velocity of the flow of air is caused to increase, openings below the heat chamber at the base of the unit and below the doors for permitting air to enter said outer enclosed sleeve duct, an opening in the top of said unit above the heat chamber for permitting heated air to flow from said outer sleeve duct means, a reduced cross-section in said sleeve duct means that causes the heated air to flow at a high velocity, means in the front of the unit for controlling the flow of air to the flow of gases and smoke from the heat chamber, sheet metal screws, panel connecting means on the top of the unit above the duct means and on the sides of the unit outside the duct means, said panel connecting means comprising of a plurality of openings in the outer surfaces of said unit adapted to receive the said sheet metal screws, each of said openings at the top and the sides thereof and being aligned equally distant from the front of the unit so that the openings in the top are aligned with the openings in the sides, flat panels, said flat panels having flanges at right angles to said panels, said flanges having openings, said flanges adapted to rest on said openings in the unit at the top and sides thereof and adapted to aline with the openings at the top and the sides of the unit aforesaid in predetermined positions, whereby sheet metal screws may secure said panels in the same plane whereby the area behind the said panels is hidden from view and whereby if the fireplace is small or large, the panels can be positioned in abutment with the face of the fireplace.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,908 to C. H. Trexler there is disclosed a fireplace heating unit adapted to be supported on the hearth and fireplace floor of an existing fireplace to extend into the existing fireplace recess, comprising a housing structure having a metal furnace jacket defining a combustion chamber for receiving a fuel to be burned and metal housing means receiving said jacket, said housing means and said furnace jacket having spaced apart wall portions to provide an interior air space between said furnace jacket and said housing means, wall means forming a part of said housing structure and partitioning said interior space into a plenum and an air conduction space, said plenum overlying said furnace jacket and combustion chamber, and said air conduction space extending at least along the back of the furnace jacket, conduit means exposed in said combustion chamber and establishing fluid communication between said air conduction space and said plenum to provide for the flow of air from said conduction space to said plenum without mixing with combustion gases in said combustion chamber, a forced air blower connected to feed air to be heated to said air conduction space for flow through said air conduction space and said conduit means to said plenum, the air flowing through said air conduction space and said conduit means being heated by the fire produced by the burning of fuel in said combustion chamber whereby heated air is delivered to said plenum, said plenum having an air outlet opening to provide for the passage of the heated air from said plenum to the room area being heated, said housing structure being adapted to seat on the fireplace floor and said hearth at a location where only a rearward portion of said housing structure is received in said fireplace recess, at least a portion of said plenum and a portion of the combustion chamber vertically underlying said plenum being disposed forwardly of said rearward portion to be positioned forwardly of said fireplace recess when said rearward portion is received in receptacle mounted in housing structure, said receptacle having its open upper end disposed at the top wall of said plenum at a location where it is disposed forwardly of said fireplace recess to open into the room area being heated, said receptacle extending at least in said plenum and being exposed to the heat produced by burning fuel in said combustion chamber to provide for the vaporization of water in said receptacle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,102 there is disclosed a fireplace grate comprising a cradle portion for holding combustibles which includes a plurality of apertured, substantially identical planar segments and means including threaded means engaging said apertures for maintaining them in substantially identical orientation and in predetermined spatial relation to one another, means disposed below said cradle portion for supporting the latter, said supporting means including a selected number of substantially planar apertured segments which have substantially identical configuration to said planar segments of said cradle portion and oriented opposite to the orientation of the segments of said cradle portions, and threaded means engaging predetermined ones of said apertures for connecting said means to one another in a manually releasable mechanical manner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,168 to D. D. Cagle there is disclosed a fireplace grate comprising a lower supporting frange and a grill mounted thereon, said lower frame consisting of a transversely extending rear member and a pair of side members extending right angularly from the ends of the rear member and forming them with a U-shaped structure the front of which is entirely open between the front ends of the side members, the lower frame rear member being a tubular manifold open at one end for air input and closed at its opposite end, a plurality of tubes extending forwardly in laterally spaced parallelism from removable connection of their rear end to the manifold for receiving air therefrom and having their front ends open for discharge of said air, and said grill comprising transversely extending front and rear members connected at their ends to forwardly extending side members and forming therewith a rectangular structure the side member of which bear on the side members of the lower frame, brackets slidably hanging the front end portions of the tube from the front member of the grill, and the rear member of the grill being hinged to the main fold, whereby the tubes secure the grill down in operative portion on the lower frame and the tubes are slidable forwardly in the brackets for removal from the manifold, thereby freeing the grill swinging to upwardly tilted inoperative position facilitating removal of ashes through the open front of the low frame.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,671 to I. Nadolsky.